Last week, online retail juggernaut Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) unveiled an introductory video of Echo’s Alexa, a digital personal assistant that does everything from answering questions to writing down shopping lists, from answering questions to playing music.
Many described the near four-minute video to be cheesy and awkward, but Amazon got its primary message out: eventually a bulk of the consumer base will want the Echo, much like customers are now clamoring for smart televisions today.
Soon after the video was released, which has generated close to two million views, pranksters took their turn on showcasing the digital personal assistant. Rather than spotlighting its helpful nature, technological advancements and innovation, some YouTubers transformed Echo into wise-cracking, double-talking machine.
For instance, Barry Mannifold published an edited two-minute video that substituted some of the comments made by Echo with his take on what Alexa is all about. Ostensibly, Mannifold’s video is a lot more popular as it has close to three million views.
When the father asks Alexa what it does, the machine responds: “I’m a talking cylinder. I exist only for companionship and utility. My existence is utterly meaningless.” The mother proceeds to ask what time it is, in which Alexa answers with hostility: “It’s time for you to calm the f— down.”
The clip forwards to the father asking how tall Mt. Everest is. Alexa responds: “Mount Everest is like probably the tallest mountain. I heard a guy died trying to climb it.”
Moving forward, the mother is in the kitchen and asks Alexa to add wrapping paper to the shopping list, but Alexa decides to insert “rap albums” to the list. She then asks Alexa how many teaspoons in a tablespoon, which doesn’t please Alexa, who says, “How is it possible a woman your age doesn’t know that. Look it up, you insufferable imbeciles.”
When the father tells Alexa to turn the alarm off because it’s Saturday, the mother inquires with Alexa what day it is. The response is quite interesting: “Today, Ron gets off his ass and makes something of his life.”
The children are in the kitchen and ask Alexa for a joke, though it’s not an innocent quip for kids as it involves a black guy, a prostitute and a Jew.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) hasn’t commented on the video.